Overview
The City of Roanoke is seeking at least six (6) artists or artist teams to exhibit sculpture in the eighth Art in Roanoke (AIR) temporary sculpture exhibition running May 16, 2025 through April 20, 2027.
The City is accepting submissions now until midnight, February 3, 2025 for freestanding sculpture responding to the theme “Larger than Life.” The installation will celebrates the 15th anniversary of a well loved work of public art, Trojan Dog, by artist Ann Glover, with a call for oversized reimaginings of everyday objects. Both proposed work and finished pieces will be considered.
The two-year lease of each work (not to exceed $4,500 per piece) will be funded through Roanoke’s Percent for Art fund.
This invitation is extended to all artists 18 and older or supervised student groups under an applicant instructor or institutional program. Innovative approaches are welcomed, including the establishment of partnerships between emerging and established artists or between artists and fabricators. Regional artists and teams with connections to Roanoke are strongly encouraged to apply, as are women and artists of color.
A selection panel will review each proposal in accordance with the provisions demonstrated herein and the City reserves the right to issue multiple awards for such goods/services.
Community Context
Established in 1884 in a valley of Virginia’s Blue Ridge, the city of Roanoke grew from the committed investment of local leaders—residents eager to create a thriving place at the crossing of two rail lines. Now, 140 years later, Roanoke continues stepping into the future with renewed commitment to its place and people.
The “Magic City” of now just under 100,000 citizens stands at the center of a region of more than 300,000 people. The city continues to reassess, value and deploy the resources at hand. Old warehouses and garages from the 1900s now house local craft breweries and high-end lofts, offering residents and visitors easy access to outdoor recreation, a thriving arts and cultural community, and growing research opportunities along the Innovation Corridor. The community builds upon its assets, natural, built, institutional, and human. This process of visioning, reinvention, and creation closely correlate with and benefit from the creative processes of artists.
Simultaneously, the community is following a 20-year comprehensive plan that emphasizes equity throughout every aspect of investment and service delivery. As the nation considers how it works better for ALL of its citizens, the City of Roanoke is acting locally, making strides and committed to a welcoming, diverse, and equitable future. We do this by building strong and meaningful relationships and engaging in our community building work together, and we do so with a sense of joy.
In this call, the artist’s close observation of the world around us is called upon to provoke both thought and a sense of whimsy and joy in residents, visitors, and viewers.
This full call is available at the CaFE website. All applications must be made through CaFE.
Scope of Services &
Guidelines for Submitted Works
In the spirit of bringing fresh perspectives on our collective journey and the world around us, the Roanoke Arts Commission invites submissions of 3-D work.
+ Concepts and finished work must directly respond to the theme: “Larger than Life.” In the concepts, we invite consideration of everyday items, with their likeness rendered at a grand scale.
+ Work can be new or proposed. New work is encouraged.
+ Materials used might reflect:
– Roanoke’s natural environment;
– the city’s industrial and cultural history;
– the knowledge-based activity of the Innovation Corridor, including new materials and methods; and
– strides in inclusion and equity as the city reconsiders and invests in itself and this place.
+ The use of materials will reflect the strength, resilience, imagination, aspirations, and inclusive nature of the city and its creative cultural community.
+ The development of the work will reflect innovative and collaborative approaches that explore new ways of looking at both at the resources at hand and the processes deploying them.
+ Works must be:
– of a scale and material suitable for outdoor display,
– designed to withstand an outdoor, high traffic, unmonitored environment,
– require little or no maintenance for the two-year duration of the show,
– original,
– suitable for family viewing, and
– constructed so that they can be securely anchored.
+ The Art Walk includes up to seven available pads surrounded by native plantings. Each pad is 6’ by 6’ and can hold up to 1,500 lbs. Work cannot be over 15’ tall or 6’ wide. Anchor bolts are required and must be set at least six inches from the edges of the pads.
Payments and Awards
There is no entry fee. Artists chosen to participate will receive a stipend of up to $4,500 per selected artwork.
Installation
+ Costs associated with transportation of the piece, travel of the artist, insurance during travel and installation, installation, and removal of the work are the responsibility of the artist.
+ The City will provide pads and installation support as feasible.
+ Completed installation must pass city inspection, meeting all safety requirements.
+ Artists whose projects are accepted will be required to sign a loan agreement, a sample of which is posted online.
+ Works will not be insured by the City, but may be self-insured by the artist.
Entry Procedures
Each artist may submit a total of up to 3 proposed sculptures or concepts for consideration.
To apply, please submit to the call as posted on the CAFÉ website. Submittals are due by 11:59 p.m. EST February 3, 2025. To apply, go to the CaFÉ homepage at CallForEntry.org, and create an artist account. CaFÉ is free to use, and there is no entry fee for this call. Under “Find Calls” search for Roanoke. Follow the instructions for submission, upload the required images and files, and submit.
PROPOSALS MUST INCLUDE:
+ A brief Artist(s) Statement (300 words max) to introduce the selection panel to your artistic practice
+ A project statement (500 words max) that describes the response for this project, demonstrates an understanding of the community, and explains how the work relates to the context and theme of “Larger than Life.”
+ Concept or sculpture images
+ An illustration of how the piece will be anchored to the pad.
+ An anticipated project budget, including travel, materials, etc. Note: the maximum payment is $4,500.
+ Contact information for two professional references for which the Offeror has done design or art work in the last five years.
For technical questions about CaFÉ, please click on Help on the CaFÉ website.
All responses to this call shall be submitted through CaFÉby February 3, 2025 at 11:59 PM.
Proposals received after the specified date and time may not be accepted.
Each Offeror who is a stock or Nonstock Corporation, Limited Liability Company, business trust, or a limited partnership or other business entity shall be authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a domestic or foreign business entity if required by law. Each such Offeror shall include in its proposal response the Identification Number issued to it by the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) and should list its business entity name as it is listed with the SCC. Any Offeror that is not required to be authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth as a domestic or foreign business entity as required by law shall include in its proposal response a statement describing why the Offeror is not required to be so authorized. (See VA Code Section 2.2-4311.2).
The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to cancel this call, to waive any informalities in any proposal, to award any whole or part of a proposal, and to award to multiple artists whose proposal is, at the sole discretion of the City of Roanoke, determined to be in the best interest of the City.
Calendar
> Application is required by February 3, 2025 at 11:59 PM. Application will be through CaFÉ.
> Chosen artists or teams will be selected and notified by Friday, February 23, 2025
> Installation is to occur between Monday, May 5 2025 and Thursday, May 15, 2025. Because park facilities are frequently busy with the set up and break down for weekend festivals, installation is recommended to take place between Monday afternoon and Thursday afternoons.
> Works are to be picked up between Monday, April 26 and Thursday, May 6, 2027
Evaluation
A panel representing diverse interests and expertise will review submissions and recommend at least six (6) artists or artist teams to the Roanoke Arts Commission. The City of Roanoke will use a weighted scoring system when evaluating selection criteria. Major criteria to be considered in the evaluation may include, but shall not necessarily be limited to the following items:
Experience: The background, education, and experience in providing similar services or items elsewhere, including the level of experience in working with municipalities and the quality of work created. 35 points
Cost/Fee: Reasonableness/competitiveness of proposed fee and/or benefits to the City, although the City is not bound to select the Offeror who proposes the lowest fees or most benefits for services. The City reserves the right to negotiate fees and/or benefits to the City. 10 points.
Compliance: The responsiveness and compliance with the requirements and conditions. Determination that their are noncontractual relationships which would result in a conflict of interest. 10 points
Approach and Methodology to Meet Need: The ability, capacity, and skill to fully and satisfactorily create the work, demonstrating artistic merit and excellence. The quality of performance in comparable and/or similar projects. Whether the work can be delivered in a prompt and timely manner. 45 points.
The following criteria will be used to assess artistic excellence and artistic merit
+ Quality and design of the art work or proposal
+ Responsiveness of the proposal to the call’s theme and community context
+ Appropriateness for the site, including aesthetic content and public safety
+ Feasibility given timeline and budget
+ Artist’s or team’s experience meeting deadlines in client-based projects. For student teams or artists stretching their practice to include public sculpture, the thoroughness of issues being considered in the design and description will be considered.
+ Durability – The art work’s ability to withstand weather and interaction in a highly public area over the 2 years of the exhibition
+ Diversity – The exhibition will be curated to reflect the diversity of the community and to display a diversity of approaches
+ Other criteria not outlined above may be considered as well.
Important Links
Learn more about the Roanoke Arts Commission:
+ www.roanokearts.org
+ www.roanokeva.gov/art
+ www.roanokearts.org/year
See past exhibits on the Elmwood Art Walk:
+ Explore The Natural City
+ Explore City in Motion
+ Explore Roanoke Rising
+ Explore Reimagining Roanoke
+ Explore Artist at Work
Artwork Sale Opportunity
Sale of installed works will be encouraged. Sale arrangements will be handled between the buyer and the artist. It is understood that work will remain on display for the entire exhibit. To date, the City of Roanoke has purchased five works from previous temporary Elmwood Art Walk exhibitions.